In physics time is considered as the least understood of concepts. Till now, the physicists have failed completely to understand time. Einstein himself was puzzled with time and his Endeavour in understanding time has led to his special theory of relativity. In his special theory of relativity, Einstein proposed the relativity of time and gave a new dimension to the world of physics called ‘space-time’.
Fig.1.The astronaut is younger then his contemporary Mr. Twin when he returns form a journey to star (time travel). (Google images: special theory of relativity)
The special theory of relativity is based on the proposition:nothing can move faster than light.Einstein discovered that the speed with which light moves is the limit of speed which is 300000 km/second and hence is a constant.According to his theory no matter can cross this speed limit.And when a body starts moving with speed of light either it's mass will become infinity or it will loose all the mass that is, it's mass will become zero.It obviously means that it is impossible to move with speed of light,the speed limit is firm.At this point of argument I find it very relevant to quote the words of Hadrat Ali form Nahjulbalagha which are as follows,
"God has fixed limits for every thing he has created and made the limits firm"
Nahjulbalagha:sermon,89:page,170
Well this is a very awesome generalization,and this piece of wisdom has been there since 1000 years in Nahjulbalagha but no musalman got the temptation to ponder over it and discover the physical constants.The above saying of Hadrat Ali is like an ocean enclosed in a jar.It is not too late even if we start pondering over it now.Constant in physics are the natural limits of the physical quantities.The Planck constant is the limit of mass which is 1.6/10000000000000000000000000000000000 joule/second.It is 1.6 divided by ten followed by thirty four zeroes.It is the smallest quantity of mass possible in the universe,mass cannot be less than the Planck constant.The other most popular constant is the charge of electron which is 1.6/10000000000000000000 Columbs that 1.6 divided by ten followed by 19 zeroes.It is the minimum amount of charge possible in the universe,if a particle has a charge less than charge of electron it is considered as neutral particle.There are numerous constants and to mention them will be out of the scope of this article.If one starts moving with the speed of light ,time vanishes for him(of course,which is impossible,at least in this century).
In conclusion, special theory of relativity says that if an astronaut goes on a voyage to the nearest star, alphacentuary,which is four light years away(light year = distance traveled by light in one year, light covers 3 lakh kilometers in one second) then as soon as he come out of the sphere of influence of the sun(he should with velocity of light) time will stop for him.Means if he returns to earth after his eight years journey he will be of the same age(Fig.1) when he left the earth.Thus you can beat the influence of time in two ways,first start moving with velocity of light and second,move out of the gravitational field of the sun
Fig.2.We are existing in the space-time web.(Google images:space time).
It means when we leave the sphere of influence of sun time is finished until we enter the sphere of influence of the other sun or star (to go out of the sun's sphere of influence one has to move with velocity of light).
Fig.3.The future and past light cone are the sphere of influence of sun(OBSERVER).When an astronaut goes out of this influence cones of the sun time ends for him.(Google images:space time).
On entering the sphere of influence (gravitational field) of the other star a different time starts operating on you, if the star in whose gravitational field you have entered has more gravitational pull then the sun, time will be running fast and you will be aging fast and in the contradictory scenario the opposite will happen means you will be ageing slowly. You can say that a day on earth can be second on the other star and a day can also be 50,000 years (If its gravity is very low) on the other star, regarding such a scenario Quran says,
“And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not his promise. And verily, a day with your lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon.”
QURAN: 22:47
The above verse of Quran clearly speaks of relativity of time. At other place Quran says,
“The angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years”.QURAN: 70:4.
This verse of Quran says that angles cover 50,000 years in a day.Quran also declares ‘year’ as the unit of speed.
In our solar system itself we can see that different planets have different time. A day on mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes long; on Jupiter it is 9 hours 55 minutes, on Uranus 10 hours and on Saturn 17 hours.
Physicists are so sick of time that they are planning to remove time form the equations involved in experimental calculation.
Fig.4.JULIAN BARBOUR, a theoretical physicist, has worked on foundational issues in physics for 35 years, specializing in the study of time and inertia. He is the author of Absolute or Relative Motion?, The End of Time, and The Discovery of Dynamics.
Julian Barbour is one such physicist who says that time is an illusion and should be removed from physics.In his controversial book, end of time, Julian Barbour says that time is a psychological concept. He says that there is no past, there is only present. There are so many presents that the distance between them give rise to an illusion called’time’.According to him, for an unconscious man there is no time. If fact there are many cases in medical history where the patients arising after many years of coma appeared very young ,when they finally came back from it. Well we can call Julian Barbour as a disbeliever or unbeliever (kafir) of time, as he does not believe in it. So we have two kinds of physicists, one who believe in time and one who does not believe in it's existence. Regarding God also there are two sorts of people, one who believe in him and other who deny his existence. Time is regarded as a very sacred concept in Islam,regarding time Quran says,
“I(God) swear by the time! Man is in loss,except those who believe and exhort for truth and patience”.QURAN: SURAH:ASR
Fig.5.Picture showing a man in loss.Time brings loss,with time anarchy increases,2nd law of thermodynamics.
There are two word in Arabic which denote time:Dahr and Asr.Regarding time the prophet of Islam said,
“Does not abuse time (Dahr) for it is God himself”.
1. Sahih-al-bukhari, vol.6, hadith.no.351 (Sunni book)
2. Translation of Quran by Maqbool Ahmad, vol.2, page 798(urdu-Shia book)
It is strange that the above hadith is found in both the Sunni and the Shia book with exactly the same words and content.
God is invisible so is time, God cannot be understood and time is still not understood by physicists, There are atheist who don’t believe in God and there are physicists who don’t believe in time, God controls everything and nobody can control God, same is with time. God is omnipresent and according to Einstein space- time concept time is the property of space, where there is space there is time, hence time is omnipresent as well. Nobody can influence time but time influences everything, regarding the nature of time Hadrat Ali says,
“Time (Dahr) wears bodies, renews aspiration, brings end near and takes away aspiration. Whoever is successful with it (time) encounters grief and whosoever allows time to go also feels sorry.”
Nahjulbalagha:saying 72
Time wears bodies:
With time disorder increases ,this is called as the second law of thermodynamic.Hadrat Ali points towards this property of time that it destroys or wears bodies.
Fig.6.Painting showing the second law of thermodynamics,that there is increase of disorder with time.
Ageing is a process which is controlled by time. According to Einstein if an Astronaut goes out of the time frame of the sun (one has to move with velocity of light in all time travel) he will stop ageing because time stops for him. So time destroys things but it bringing new things and new events as well.
Fig.7. Picture of Paul Dirac,the Nobel prize winner in physics.
According to the theory of inflation, proposed by Paul Dirac-Nobel laureate,space has the inherent capacity to produce energy fluctuations which die very fast, but one energy bubble out of 10,0000000 survives to produce a universe. This creative aspect of space is due to the presence of time in it.Hadrat Ali says that time spoils the old system and bring in new system (renews aspiration).But as time is inherent in space, when an astronaut moves out of the time frame of the sun he will still be ageing but very very slowly, as if he is not at all ageing.
Fig.8.The inflation theory says that the present universe was formed because of an energy bubble which failed to perish.It is the inherent property of space time to produce energy bubbles which get perished in millionth of a second.The lucky energy bubble expanded exponentially to fill the space with energy,and then the energy condensed and exploded in the form of a big bang to form universe with thousands of galaxies and stars.
Whoever is successful with it (time) encounters grief and whosoever misses it also feels sorry:
According to Hadrat Ali no one can win over time.Melancholy is the nature of time.Time is grief, so there is grief in space time, so there is suffering in the universe. As long as one exists in space-time there can be no relief from grief, so instead of trying to escape from grief it is a better idea to embrace it and try living with it. At other place in Nahjulbalagha Hadrat Ali says: When you are facing trouble constantly, jump into them.
Fig.9.Julian says that time is an illusion,but according to Hadrat Ali time is grief.
At this stage of discussion I would like to advice Julian Barbour to abandon the idea of removing time form physics. With time there is trouble in physics and without time there will be more trouble, as Hadrat Ali says if you are successful with time you will be unhappy and if you allow time to go away you will be unhappy. So it is better to be unhappy with time then to be unhappy without it(in physics).
Fig.10.Time is an attribute of God.And God cannot be separated form his attributes.
If you don’t believe in God you will be a looser in the hereafter and if you believe in God you will be a looser in this world, at least for a part of time, for Quran says,
“And certainly, we shall test you (those who believe in God) with something of fear,hunger,loss of wealth, lives and fruit of labour,but give glad tidings to the patient”.Quran: 2:155
If you believe in God there is trouble and if you don’t believe in God there is trouble again, choice is yours. Till now we have see that time and God have the same characteristics. It mentioned in Quran that Jesus Christ used to make birds of clay and blow spirit in them and they would become alive and fly away,but just blowing spirit Jesus he used to say:they shall fly with the permission of God.Time,like Jesus Christ,does every thing but the real force or power behind it is God.This may be the interpretation of the prophets saying:do not abuse time for it is God himself.
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